You're back!
From the girl's responding thoughts alone, Zhou Yang could sense her joyous mood.
He smiled silently, then, thinking of when he had been immersed in this "Knife-Credit Ledger," the various scenes that came to mind made his mood grow heavy once more.
Ghosts seemed only one level above gui, but Zhou Yang clearly remembered what Chang Dafeng had said: if they were gui, they still had a chance of escape by means of "Opera Spirit-Communion."
But if they were ghosts, Chang Dafeng had said they could only wait to die!
To an opera troupe, ghosts were simply unsolvable!
The heavy pressure weighed on Zhou Yang's heart like a stone, and for the time being he could not pass this pressure to Ding Ling, lest it disrupt morale.
He composed himself and said to Ding Ling, "Yes. I said long ago that although I might leave without warning, I would surely return.
"You and I share weal and woe, life and death."
Through Ding Ling's eyes, Zhou Yang saw that the dawn was just breaking, and his heart sank again.
Guancun was already dark, while the sun rose in the east in Daliang Village.
This could no longer be explained by any "time difference."
After all, the last time his consciousness descended to Daliang Village, this place and Guancun had both just entered night.
Now Guancun and Daliang Village either had completely chaotic time flow with no discernible pattern, or else they were not in the same world.
But if they were not in the same world, the language Ding Ling and the others spoke was clearly the language of Guancun people.
Between the two, there were various connections.
What was going on?
As Zhou Yang pondered, Ding Ling spoke up in a lighthearted tone:
"I know. I believe you!
"You definitely keep your word; you're a trustworthy person!"
"Then what is the situation now?
"You're holding a firewood knife; are you going out to chop firewood?" Zhou Yang observed the situation while asking Ding Ling.
Ding Ling immediately answered: "The opera troupe doesn't have enough food to eat, and there's little firewood left. The troupe leader ordered Qian Heng, the martial male role, and the child Shitouzi to go dig wild vegetables;
"He told me to go collect firewood with Li Yichun and Gao Hongbo!"
"At such a critical time, why bother doing these things—" Zhou Yang frowned inwardly, then suddenly thought of something and asked Ding Ling, "From the moment I suddenly left until now, how long has passed?
"Before I left, I warned you to make it clear to the troupe leader what you saw in the mirror.
"How did you tell him?"
Hearing Zhou Yang's serious tone, Ding Ling also grew nervous: "When you left, it was about half a shichen after the zi hour last night, and now a whole night has passed.
"I told the troupe leader everything clearly: there wasn't just one gui in the mirror, but a whole group of gui.
"The gui silk was like a net.
"I trust you. Don't you believe my words?"
Her tone seemed somewhat hesitant and anxious.
Zhou Yang softened his voice and said slowly: "What reason do I have not to believe you?
"But this matter is of great importance; I must handle it carefully.
"Since I happened to be away at the time, I could only hear you tell me—Ding Ling, this is a matter of your life and death!"
"Think carefully. When you told Chang Dafeng about the situation in the mirror, what was his reaction?"
"He told me not to spread the word about there being a group of gui in the village, and not to tell the others in the opera troupe." Recalling the scene, Ding Ling said to Zhou Yang earnestly: "His reaction was indeed strange at the time…
"I feel that although he urged me urgently and kept asking what I saw, when I actually told him what I saw, he wasn't so urgent anymore.
"As if… as if… he actually knew what was in the mirror!"
"He knew…" Zhou Yang murmured.
If Chang Dafeng knew early what the situation in the mirror would be, why would he have Ding Ling primp before the mirror again?
This question flashed through Zhou Yang's mind. In the bottom of his heart, a voice had long been waiting, and now it gave a cold response: "Even if this troupe leader knows what the situation in the mirror will be, if he tells the troupe members, they may not believe it.
"Though they are grasshoppers strung on the same rope, they each kick their legs and fight each other, never able to unite into one and direct their strength in one direction.
"Now that Ding Ling's primping before the mirror was before their eyes, everyone sees it in full, and regarding the result, they naturally have no doubt.
"Chang Dafeng can thus make everyone obey orders and direct their strength in one direction!
"However…
"Human hearts are hard to fathom. He thought so and did so, but the result may not turn out as he wished…"
In just a moment, Zhou Yang understood the crux of the matter.
From this he felt even more that this troupe leader Chang Dafeng must be exceedingly cruel and vicious.
After all, for his own purposes, this man could casually order others to their deaths without batting an eye.
If Ding Ling had not been selected as Zhou Yang's retribution body, her deadly situation would almost certainly have been sealed.
"Do you think there's something wrong with Chang Dafeng?" Ding Ling asked cautiously. "He's had me go find him alone every night these past two days. He wants to teach me how to practice 'Draft on Making Up Gods and Painting Ghosts'…"
Letting a young woman go find him at night to practice "Draft on Making Up Gods and Painting Ghosts"?
Ding Ling's words made Zhou Yang immediately alert.
He said: "He surely has no good intentions.
"When I'm not around, at night you absolutely must not be alone with him!"
Hearing this, Ding Ling giggled: "The troupe leader is still different from the others in the opera troupe…"
At this, her voice softened again:
"However, since you require it, I'll do as you say.
"When you're not around, I will certainly not be alone with him."
In Zhou Yang's heart, Chang Dafeng was already a sinister and venomous man.
Before Ding Ling primped before the mirror, Chang Dafeng was extremely likely to have already first known the situation in the mirror.
Based on this speculation, perhaps he also knew in his heart that there were no gui in Daliang Village, but that real "ghosts" had appeared here?
If so, what was he plotting by keeping everyone calm and performing opera here?
With many doubts in his heart, Zhou Yang still patiently asked Ding Ling: "Since you saw the ghost in the mirror, shouldn't the opera troupe next prepare to sing a grand play to deceive the ghost?
"At such a critical juncture, why is Chang Dafeng only sending you to do odd jobs?"
Since they intended to bluff the ghost with opera, this play concerned their own lives, as if the play was more important than heaven. Why had the opera troupe instead relaxed at this time? Actually "idle" enough to send people everywhere to pick up firewood and dig wild vegetables?
"The only audience for this grand play is the ghosts in Daliang Village, so it must be especially solemn."
"Usually the opera troupe picks an auspicious day to perform; this time they chose an even better day… This morning the opera troupe divined and selected three days hence, after the noon hour, to perform."
"There really isn't much surplus grain in the troupe, so the troupe leader sent everyone everywhere to gather firewood and dig wild vegetables, after all, singing opera is hard physical work."
"Wait until tonight, everyone gathers together, and the troupe leader will 'Invite the Ghost to Select the Play.'"
"Whichever one the ghost points to, that's the play we will sing three days hence."
"Invite the Ghost to Select the Play?"
Zhou Yang's heart stirred: "What kind of rule is this?"
Ding Ling answered fluently: "It's writing several ghost-and-god plays that the opera troupe knows how to sing on wooden tablets, and erecting them on white sand.
"Whichever wooden tablet the ghost knocks over, that's the play that is selected.
"The ghost-and-god plays our opera troupe knows how to sing include 'Three Strikes Against the White Bone Demon,' 'Zhong Kui Marries Off His Sister,' 'Child Passes the Barrier.' The troupe leader also has the signature skill of face-changing, able to change twenty-seven faces in a few breaths…"
Chapter 20